September 10, 2014
SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Dakota State (S.D.) could not overcome four Briar Cliff (Iowa) players with double digits kills Wednesday evening at the Newman Flanagan Center, giving the Chargers a non-conference victory in four sets. Briar Cliff won by the scores of 23-25, 25-18, 25-23 and 25-16, snapping DSU's three-match winning streak.
Dakota State dropped their overall record to 7-5. Briar Cliff, receiving votes to the first NAIA Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 national poll, improved their overall record to 8-1 after their home opener victory.
The Trojans earned a 1-0 match lead after pulling away by the score of 25-23, thanks to Chargers' 11 attack errors. DSU had 10 kills with 4 errors in 38 attempts (.158 hitting percentage), while BC had 17 kills with 11 errors in 43 attempts (.140 hitting percentage).
Briar Cliff tied the match at 1-1 after winning the second set 25-18. BCU had 12 kills with 7 errors in 37 attempts (.135) compared to the Trojans' 11 kills with 12 errors in 44 attempts (minus .023).
Dakota State had an 18-14 lead in the third set before the Chargers rallied back with a 6-2 scoring run for a 20-20 tie. Briar Cliff closed out the third set 25-23, earning a 2-1 match lead over the Trojans. BCU outhit DSU 20-6 in the third set.
The Chargers closed out the match by winning the fourth set 25-16. Briar Cliff hit .364 in the fourth set (18 kills with 6 errors in 33 attempts) while DSU hit .133 (8 kills with 4 errors in 30 attempts).
Carly Rozell led the Trojans' offense attack with 14 kills. Caitlin Pick added six kills. Brittney Anderson and Taylor Stratton each had four kills.
Stacey Westby had 17 set assists for Dakota State. Kaylee Vander Wall added 13 assists.
Katherine Gonzalez recorded a match-high 23 digs for DSU. Allison Thielsen had nine digs.
Tessa Weeldreyer earned six block assists and a solo block (4 total blocks) for the Trojans. Pick added five block assists (2.5 total blocks). Rozell had four block assists. Kylie Martin and Anderson each had three block assists.
Katelin Langel smashed 17 kills for the Chargers. Rachele Harrill and Breanna Nogelmeier each added 13 kills. Brianna Eaton had 12 kills. Dani Helland recorded a double-double of 46 assists and 15 digs.
Amy Frank had 21 digs for Briar Cliff. Langel added 13 digs. Harrill had 11 digs.
Langel recorded six block assists for BCU. Jenna Berg and Nogelmeier each had three block assists.
Frank and Harrill had two service aces for the Chargers.
BCU outhit DSU 67-35 in the match. The Chargers hit .196 after committing 34 attack errors in 168 attempts. The Trojans had 21 errors in 149 attack attempts for a hitting percentage of .094.
DSU had 13 team blocks compared to Briar Cliff 10 blocks.
Both teams will meet again on Oct. 10 for a non-conference match at DSU Fieldhouse in Madison, S.D.
The junior varsity match was won by BCU in three sets.
Dakota State looks to bounce back in the winning column as they play four matches in the two-day College of Saint Mary (Neb.)-Grace (Neb.) tournament on Friday and Saturday. The Trojans will play the host-team Grace (Neb.) at 1 p.m. and York (Neb.) at 5 p.m. on Friday. On Saturday, DSU faces Southwestern (Kan.) at 1 p.m. and AIB (Iowa) at 5 p.m. All matches will be held at the Burkholder center-Jim Classen Gymnasium in Omaha.
Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director
